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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1968 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to waste or disposal facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that ground water is one of Hawaii's most important natural resources. It is used for drinking water, irrigation, and domestic, commercial, and industrial needs. Ground water provides about ninety-nine per cent of Hawaii's domestic water and about fifty per cent of all fresh water used in the State.
The legislature acknowledges that there are stringent requirements designed to minimize the risk that waste or disposal facilities pose to ground water. However, the legislature further finds that the presence of underlying aquifers should be seriously considered prior to siting and approving the construction, modification, or expansion of waste or disposal facilities.
The purpose of this Act is to prohibit the construction, modification, or expansion of a waste or disposal facility on land that covers a significant aquifer as determined by the department of health.
SECTION 2. Section 342H-52, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§342H-52 Prohibitions; buffer zones. (a) No person, including the State or any county, shall construct, operate, modify, expand, or close a municipal solid waste landfill unit, or any component of a municipal solid waste landfill unit, without first obtaining a permit from the director. All permits for municipal solid waste landfill units shall be subject to any terms and conditions that the director determines are necessary to protect human health or the environment.
(b) No person, including the State or county,
shall construct, modify, or expand a waste or disposal facility including a
municipal solid waste landfill unit, any component of a municipal solid waste
landfill unit, a construction and demolition landfill unit, or any component of
a construction and demolition landfill unit on land that covers a significant aquifer
as determined by the department.
[(b)] (c) No person, including the State or any county,
shall construct, modify, or expand a waste or disposal facility including a municipal
solid waste landfill unit, any component of a municipal solid waste landfill
unit, a construction and demolition landfill unit,
or any component of a construction and demolition landfill unit without first
establishing a buffer zone of no less than one-half mile around the waste or
disposal facility. This subsection shall
not apply to the continued operation of an existing
waste or disposal facility that is properly permitted; provided that continued operation
does not require physical expansion, vertical or horizontal, of the facility
requiring additional permitting review and a permit modification.
For the purposes of this subsection:
"Buffer zone" means the distance between the edge of waste or waste activity and the nearest residential, school, or hospital property line.
"Waste or disposal facility" excludes individual, state certified, non-industrial redemption centers."
SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Waste or Disposal Facilities; Significant Aquifers
Description:
Prohibits the construction, modification, or expansion of any waste or disposal facility on land that covers a significant aquifer as determined by the department of health.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.